Monday, September 21, 2015

Week 56 - The Book of Mormon really can change lives

Hello again!! Last week was a great one, but unfortunately not every week can be like that... this week we struggled with having lessons with those we are teaching, but we are definitely still trying our hardest! I am gonna skip to the highlight of the week, which was having a mission conference with Elder C. Scott Grow from the Seventy and his wife!

In this mission we have been blessed to be visited by a lot of General Authorities! Elder Sitati, Elder Cook, Elder Christofferson, and now Elder Grow! We are so blessed!! :)

Elder Grow and his wife were both very bold and didn't hold back. The overall message was about goal setting and how what setting goals actually means so we can truly hasten the work as missionaries. Apparently as a mission we all need to step it up so we can reach our full potential. Some missionaries thought it was a little mean of them to say but it really is true. Elder Grow told us we were doing a great job but that we could do a lot better! Then he told us how we could improve and hopefully we will be seeing positive changes here!!

Another cool story is that in Gospel Principles class on Sunday, Gabriel (our recent convert) was asked to share a missionary experience he had had in the past. We weren't sure what he would say because he hadn't exactly been a member for the longest time! He talked about how once day we had gone over to teach him and he decided to invite his brother to come over and listen too! I think I mentioned this when it happened a couple months ago, but it was such an awesome experience. Gabriel had been having trouble forgiving him for something, but he was able to reach out and share the gospel with him and now they are talking again! :)

What Gabriel shared that I didn't know was that before we actually got there, Gabriel had given him a copy of the Book of Mormon and promised him that the book changes lives!! He told his brother that it had helped him and that he knew it could help him too! He was such a solid investigator. Hopefully we will be able to contact his brother this week so we can begin teaching him some more too! We have been trying but our schedules have not been lining up.

It was a tougher week overall, but there were a few moments that really stood out and helped us bear through it. The church is true, Christ lives, and the Book of Mormon really can change lives!! I know it! Have a good week! And sorry for another week with no photos haha next week for sure I'll get some :)

Love, Elder Hayes

Maria Rice, a member from the area, had the missionaries over for a Family Home Evening this week. Elder Hayes taught the lesson. She took these pictures and sent them to me. (mom is writing this. Lol!)